The Official Blog of TALES FROM THE EXPAT HAREM: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey

Saturday, May 06, 2006

A Sunny Day in Irvine

After breakfast in La Jolla, California and a stroll along the wild beach cliffs to enjoy a flock of brown pelicans and a colony of harbor seals, we headed north to the master-planned community of Irvine.

The Orange County Turkish American Association graciously hosted an event for 27 people at the Alumni House on the campus of the University of California, Irvine, organized by Sevda Aleckson and sponsored by local Turkish businesspeople.

Thank you to Baklava King who provided the event with what Jennifer says is the best baklava she has ever had (and she's had A LOT)!

We were pleased to meet members of the Turkish American community like Ahmet Atahan, a board member of the Association of Turkish Americans of Southern California (ATASC) and one of Anastasia's fellow Cihangirlilar; and the half-Turkish half-American Michelle Drouse, vice chairman of the ATASC and an urban planner at Forma who intends to work and live in Turkey one day.

We were also joined by a slew of American businesspeople who have longtime ties with Turkey as well as those who are embarking on new ventures in the country: the worldly Bill Edwards (president of Edwards Global which consults American firms on direct foreign investment opportunities) declared his years living in Ankara as the best he spent abroad; Diane Landau, the president of the project management consulting firm Global Resources is heading to Turkey this summer; and career transition specialist William Ellermeyer travels to Turkey regularly for business.

Jennifer was happy to meet fellow Western Michigan University alum Mustafa Arat and his family. Mustafa noted that he recommended EH to WMU cultural anthropologist Sarah Hill. Perhaps the anthology will make it onto a reading list at Jennifer's alma mater!

EH has been added to the libraries of these universities:-University of Wisconsin/ Madison-Florida Atlantic University